Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that federal investigators want to question two former Apple lawyers in connection to a 2001 backdated stock-options grant to Jobs.

Both the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco and the Securities and Exchange Commission are probing the maker of the iPod music player and the Macintosh computer. The move signals that investigators are trying to determine who in Apple management was responsible for the backdating.

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Apple recently admitted that documents were created to make it look as if the stock grant was approved at a special board meeting in October 2001 when no such meeting took place. The grant for 7.5 million options was completed in December 2001, when Apple's share price was higher.

The backdating inflated the value of the grant. The company took a $20 million charge to its earnings after the backdating was discovered by an internal investigation.

The false documents were created by Wendy Howell, an Apple attorney in charge of stock options administration who was dismissed last month, the Wall Street Journal reported. Her dismissal was first reported by San Francisco legal newspaper, the Recorder.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Howell claims her boss, Apple's former general counsel, Nancy Heinen, told her to create the documents. Howell's lawyer, San Francisco's Thomas Carlucci, told the Wall Street Journal that his client "acted as instructed by Apple management."

Heinen's lawyer, Berkeley's Cristina Arguedas, released a statement Friday, saying Heinen committed no "intentional wrongdoing" and that each of the options grants involving Heinen was "authorized and approved by her superiors."

Heinen, who also served as the board's secretary, left Apple in May but declined to say why.

SEC investigators would like to question Howell and Heinen, but neither has agreed to it, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Authorities also want to speak with Fred Anderson, Apple's former chief financial officer who resigned from Apple's board in October. His attorney, San Francisco's Jerome Roth, put out a statement last month saying his client had no "day-to-day role" in the granting, reporting or accounting of stock options and was not involved in any "knowing manipulation."

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling could not be reached to comment. He has repeatedly said that Apple has provided the results of its internal investigation to the SEC and U.S. attorney and that the investigation cleared Jobs and current management of misconduct.

Apple revealed in June that it may have improperly handled some options grants. Apple's board set up a committee led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore to oversee an independent probe conducted by a law firm and forensic accountants.

Stock options allow employees to buy shares at a later date, generally at the price the stock traded on the day they were granted. Backdating options to days when the stock was trading at lower prices to boost their value isn't necessarily illegal but, if not properly disclosed, the practice runs afoul of securities laws because it conceals compensation costs from investors and regulators.

Apple's internal probe found that Jobs participated in the backdating but did not understand the accounting implications nor did he financially benefit from them because he never cashed in his options. He later surrendered all of the options and received a grant of restricted stock that rose in value to hundreds of millions of dollars. Jobs sold 4.5 million shares in March for more than $295.7 million and still has more than 5.5 million shares.

Apple's investigation found that 6,428 options grants issued between 1997 and 2002 were backdated. Apple recorded $84 million in charges to account for the backdated options.

The twin government probes of Apple are weighing on the stock when the company's shares are trading at a near record. This week, the company announced its move into mobile phones. The shares were down less than 1 percent to $94.92 in late trading.

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